Symptoms of COPD: Introduction

The severity of symptoms of COPD varies between individuals and the amount of lung damage that has been done. Symptoms are related to the lower levels of oxygen in the blood that is the result of lung damage due to COPD.

Typical symptoms include shortness of breath, especially with exertion, an ongoing loose cough that produces large amount of mucus (smoker's cough), wheezing (a whistling sound made with breathing) and chest tightness.

Other symptoms can include change in alertness or mental status, fatigue, weakness, confusion, anxiety, dizziness, and pallor or cyanosis (blue tinged coloring of the skin, especially around the mouth in the extremities).

COPD symptoms:
Symptoms of COPD include shortness of breath, especially with exertion, an ongoing loose cough that produces large amount of mucus (smoker's cough), wheezing (a whistling sound made with breathing) and chest tightness. Other symptoms can include change in alertness or mental status, fatigue, confusion, anxiety, dizziness, and pallor or cyanosis (blue tinged coloring of the skin, especially around the mouth in the extremities) These symptoms are related to a lack of oxygen in the blood.

Not all symptoms of COPD are always related to COPD. Although difficulty breathing is typical of COPD, it and other symptoms can be related to many other potentially serious conditions, including cardiovascular conditions, such as myocardial infarction (heart attack) and congestive heart failure. Only a thorough evaluation by a professional health care provider can determine what is causing and how to treat your particular symptoms....more about COPD »

Symptoms of COPD

The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources
for COPD includes the 26
symptoms listed below:

Early symptoms - not many symptoms for sometimes 10 years after smoking started

Article Excerpts About Symptoms of COPD:

Daily
morning cough with clear sputum is the earliest symptom of COPD. During a cold
or other acute respiratory tract infection, the coughing may be much more
noticeable and the sputum often turns yellow or greenish. Periods of wheezing
are likely to occur especially during or after colds or other respiratory tract
infections. Shortness of breath on exertion develops later and progressively
becomes more pronounced with severe episodes of breathlessness (dyspnea)
occurring after even modest activity.

A typical course of COPD might proceed as follows. For a period of about 10
years after cigarette smoking begins, symptoms are usually not very noticeable.
After this, the patient generally starts developing a chronic cough with the
production of a small amount of sputum. It is unusual to develop shortness of
breath during exertion below the age of 40, after which it becomes more common
and may be well developed by the age of 50. However, although all COPD patients
have these symptoms, not all cigarette smokers develop a notable cough and
sputum production, or shortness of breath.
(Source: excerpt from Course of COPD: NHLBI)

COPD as a Cause of Symptoms or Medical Conditions

When considering symptoms of COPD, it is also important to consider COPD as a possible cause of other medical conditions.
The Disease Database lists the following medical conditions that COPD may cause:

About signs and symptoms of COPD:

The symptom information on this page
attempts to provide a list of some possible signs and symptoms of COPD.
This signs and symptoms information for COPD has been gathered from various sources,
may not be fully accurate,
and may not be the full list of COPD signs or COPD symptoms.
Furthermore, signs and symptoms of COPD may vary on an individual basis for each patient.
Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of any signs or symptoms and whether they
are indeed COPD symptoms.

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